Automatic door-check.



PATENTED APR. 14, 1908.

J. wimnaw. VAUTOMATIO DOOR GHEGK.

APPLICATION FILED MAY 27. 1907.

Jim) W W;

[NVENTO-R.

WITNESSES A TTORNE Y5 UNITED STATES P TE T OFFICE.

JAMES WIRGMAN, OF CUMBERLAND, MARYLAND, ASSIGNOR OF ONE-HALF TO W. O. HOFFMAN AND GEORGE E. DENEEN, OF CUMBERLAND, MARYLAND.

AU'roMA'rIo DOOR-CHECK.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented April 14, 1908.

Application filed May 27, 1907. Serial No. 375,981.

To all whom it mar concern:

Be it known that 1, JAMES WIRGMAN, a citizen of the United States, residing at Cumberland, in the county of Allegany and State of Maryland, have invented a new and useful Automatic Door-Check, of which the following is a specification.

This invention relates to improvements in devices for checking and retaining doors and the like, and it has for its object to provide an improved device of this character that is capable of gradually arresting the movement of the door as it swings into an open or other predetermined position to avoid a shock, and operating to retain it from moving toward a closed position, the device acting automatically to secure the door and to release it when it is moved by a positive force toward closed position, the device being so simple in construction that it may be manufactured and sold at a small price and it is not liable to get out of order.

To these and other ends, the invention comprises the various novel features of construction and combination and arrangement of parts, which will be hereinafter more fully described and pointed out particularly in the appended claims.

In the accompanying drawingz Figure 1 is a perspective view of a door check constructed in accordance with the present invention. Fig. 2 is a view of the catch in side elevation, the attaching plate thereof being shown in section. Fig. 3 is a front view of the attaching plate for the catch. Fig. 4 shows a modified form of locking member.

Corresponding parts in the several figures are indicated throughout by similar characters of reference.

The door check shown in the present embodiment of the invention comprises a rela tively fixed locking member adapted to be attached to one of the parts, that is to say, either to the door or to the wall or other relatively fixed part, and arelatively movable catch attached to the other part and arranged to cooperate with the locking member while the door or other part to be fastened is moved into open or other predetermined po sition.

In thepresent embodiment of the invention, the movable catch is mounted either upon the door or part to be secured, or it may be mounted on a relatively fixed support, it being provided with an. attaching plate 1 that may be made of cast iron or other suitable material and provided with apertures 2 and 3 at opposite sides thereof to receive fastening screws 4. The rear surface of the attaching plate is provided with a recess 5 which extends downwardly from the upper edge thereof, and in this recess is mounted a buffer, which is composed, in the present instance, of a stripof felt or other yielding material 6 which is compressed between the attaching plate and the part 7 to which it is secured by a clamping action of the fastening screws, the felt strip being firmly secured in place when the plate is applied, so that the use of additional securing means for the buffer is obviated. The face of the plate is provided with a pair of pivot lugs 8 to which the catch is pivotally connected, the catch, in the present instance, being provided with a pivot lug 9 mounted to turn in a vertical plane between those of the attaching plate, a horizontal pivot 10 forming an operative connection between the catch and its attaching plate. The upper rear edge 11 of the pivot lug on the catch forms a projection arranged to cooperate with the face of the attaching plate as a stop to limit the upward movement of the catch about its pivot, although the catch is free to swing downwardly, and immediately in front of the pivot, and offset above the plane of the limiting stop 11, a shoulder 12 is formed on the catch, that portion of the catch in front of the shoulder being provided with an inclined or cam surface 13, which leads from the lower forward end of the catch 14 to the top of the shoulder. On the underside .of the catch, preferably at a point adjacent to the lower forward end thereof, is provided a projection 15 which cooperates with a central projection 16 formed on the face of the attaching plate at a point adjacent to its lower edge, these projections serving to center the catch actuating spring 17, the latter being composed, in the present instance, of a helical compression spring of suitable strength having its opposite ends engaging the attaching plate and the under side of the catch respectively, the expansive action of the spring normally operating to yieldingly retain the catch in elevated position with the limiting shoulder thereon cooperating with the face of the attaching plate as a stop. The projections 15 and 16, which are arranged axially of the spring, serve to retain the latter in operative position, the spring being applied by compressing it sufliciently to enable its ends to pass between the proximate ends of the projections, the expansion of the spring serving to retain it in cooperative relation with the projections.

, The locking member, which cooperates with the catch, may be of any suitable construction, that shown in Fig. 1 embodying a substantially ring-shaped portion 18 provided with an attaching arm 19 which has a flange 20 thereon provided with apertures to receive fastening screws, the ring and its attaching arm extending substantially at right angles to the plane of the flange so that the latter may be secured to the vertical surface, while the ring and its attaching arm are in horizontal position. Or it may be constructed so that it may be applied without the use of screws or other fastening devices, as shown in Fig. 4, the ring 21 in this instance being provided with a screw 22 which eX- tends radially thereof and is adapted to be screwed directly into the door, wall, or other support, a flange 23 surrounding the screw and serving to position the ring properly.

The catch member may be applied either to the movable or stationary part, the felt buffer being firmly clamped between the attaching plate and the object to which the latter is secured, the felt projecting above the u per edge of the attaching plate and in rear of the shoulder 12 of the catch, while the cooperating locking member is secured to the movable or stationary part, as the case may be, the locking member shown in Fig. 1 being secured by ordinary screws or nails, while that shown in Fig. 4 may be screwed directly in place, the ring portion of the locking member in either case lying in a plane substantially at right angles to the plane of movement of the catch as the latter is turned about its pivot, and the parts are so located that the catch will move in a path which intersects the aXis of the ring. Ordinarily the catch is held in elevated position by the action of the spring 17, and as the catch approaches the ring of the locking member, the inclined or cam surface 13 of the former will engage the under side of the ring, causing the catch to be deflected downwardly about its pivot and in 0 position to the action of the spring 17, the iction produced between the cam surface of the catch and the cooperating portion of the'locking member serving to retard the movement of the door or other object to which the catch for the looking member is attached, and as the movement of the door continues, the cooperating portion of the ring on the locking member will pass the shoulder 12 of the catch and engage the yielding buffer 6 which will cause the movement of thedoor to be arrested without undue shock or noise. As the ring 18 passes the shoulder 12 of the catch, the latter will immediately move to an elevated position under the action of the spring 17, the shoulder cooperating with the ring to retain the door .or other object in a closed or other predetermined position.

A door check and securing device constructed in accordance with the present invention serves to effectually arrest the movement of the door, and it acts automatically to lock the door the moment the latter has reached a predetermined position, the buffer serving to arrest the movement of the door in conjunction with the cam surface of the catch, which serves to retard it in its movement, and the parts are so simple in con struction that the devices may be manufactured cheaply and they are not liable to get out of order. Moreover, the cooperating parts may be unlocked or disengaged by pulling on the door sufficiently in the direction of the desired movement, the ring portion of the locking member engaging the rear of the locking shoulder on the catch and causing the latter to tilt downwardly in opposition to the spring until the parts are disengaged; so that it is unnecessary to release the catch by the foot or hand. Ordinarily, the action of the spring will be sufficient to retain the catch in locked position and prevent accidental movement of the door by drafts of air or other causes.

What is claimed is In an automatic door check, the combination with a locking member adapted to be secured to one of the parts, of a catch member embodying an attaching plate adapted to be secured to the other part and provided with a recess in its rear surface, a strip of yielding material inserted in said recess and adapted to be clamped between the attaching plate. and the object to which it is secured, a catch pivotally mounted on the attaching plate and having a locking shoulder substantially in alinement with a portion of the said strip, and a spring for retaining the shoulder on the latch in cooperative relation with the said locking member.

In testimony that I claim the foregoing as my own, I have hereto affixed my signature in the presence of two witnesses.

JAMES WIRGMAN. 

